DOGS IN THE SCHOOL GROUND This is an argument that can never be won. For every person who agrees that dogs are best left outside the school gate, you get another person passionately believing that dogs are part of life and children need to be taught how to treat them by having them around. I have a foot in both camps. Outside the school, in a totally controlled environment where the child and parent can monitor the situation, children should definitely be exposed to dogs and animals of all types. It is part of the valuable learning experience life gives us. I encourage it wholeheartedly. In a large school, many children have had negative experiences with dogs and they represent some trauma when confronted with unknown animals. One little girl I know was mauled as a two-year old and has associated trauma to this day. A random dog owner wandering through the schoolyard is not to know this so they can unwittingly cause distress. Is it best for that little girl to be slowly conditioned to getting used to friendly dogs in the future? Yes. Is it best that she is confronted by dogs in a random way in the school yard unexpectedly? No. Occasionally, we run a program called Responsibly Pet Ownership for the younger ones. It talks about dogs and pets in general in controlled classroom environment. This is a wonderful program and a great illustration of how to manage the issue. Thus, no dogs in the school ground is the rule decreed by School Council. If, for nothing else, the sake of this little girl who you do not know.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 21:28:26 +0000